Saturday, August 31, 2019

Admission to the Masters of Accounting Program at the College

I have faced a number of knotty situations in life. On one occasion, I was working with the ADA or the American Diabetes Association. We worked as two groups and our principal task was to count and reconcile the checks, cash and credit card donations, which used to arrive in large quantities. One day an older man joined our team. Then our troubles started. Till that time we had worked without any mutual misgivings or bickering. With the advent of this person, our time schedules and procedures went haywire. I studied the situation and realized that all this was due to his reluctance to follow the established procedure.Every one, in both the groups, was compelled to go home late, due to this person’s obduracy. All felt that he should be suitably reprimanded, but no one was willing to undertake this unpleasant task. The question that was foremost on every one’s mind was ‘who would bell the cat?’ I jumped into the fray and gently but firmly convinced him that w hat he was doing was unacceptable. He was happy with this way of communication, because I had talked to him in private, so that his pride was not hurt. This had the desired effect and we were able to complete the work in time.In addition, I was also the secretary of the African Cultural Society. I was instrumental in planning and implementing the IREP Africa program at the College of William & Mary. This task entailed coordination between and interaction with a number of fellow students, faculty and departments. I emerged much stronger as a coordinator, facilitator and administrator after this novel experience. The professed objective of this program was to unite African student organizations in Virginia and to improve their relations with each other.   I actively participated in several campaigns to raise funds for the underprivileged in Africa and one of them was in respect of poverty stricken women of Uganda.A successful and efficient accountant is one who is reliable, thorough , ingenious, a seeker of solutions, well organized and performance oriented. Of these the most important is trustworthiness, because accountants, in addition to their usual work, have to offer reliable advice regarding the conduct of business in the present day economic and legal context. Moreover, if accounting standards are not adhered to, then the company stands the risk of having to close down. The Sarbanes Oxley Act was enacted in the year 2002, in order to deal with such eventualities.Another important trait of an accountant is attention to detail. I possess this in ample measure. This fact was disclosed in my tenure as the treasurer of the African Cultural Society, between the years 2006 to 2007; and as the Vice President of the Syndicate. In these tasks, I maintained authentic and comprehensive financial records. I reviewed the internal financial controls and ensured that the organization’s moneys were safe. This club has a number of advantages and I took up aggressiv e marketing to ensure that its membership increased.The lack of ethical and moral accounting practices in business organizations results in financial frauds. This was clearly established in the following cases.In the year 2001, Enron announced a net loss of $ 618 million for its third quarter and that it would reduce the shareholders’ equity by $ 1.2 billion. The SEC immediately stepped in and demanded financial information from Enron. The Enron team of Auditor’s lead by their leader Anderson systematically destroyed a large number of financial documents. Subsequently, the Enron officials and its auditors were charged and convicted of fraud.This company had engaged in malpractices relating to financial accounting, with the result that the company became bankrupt. To conceal its malafide practices, this company indulged in complicated accounting practices. This illustrates the fact that accounting has to be ethical, transparent and morally upright. The consequence of th e Enron case was that the law relating to accountancy was made more stringent. However, more than even legislation; personal attitude, morality and ethical behavior should have greater influence.WorldCom was another company, which also attempted to camouflage its fraudulent activities by resorting to fudging of figures and falsification of financial reports. The procedure adopted by its accountants was less sophisticated than that of the Enron team; nevertheless, it committed a much greater fraud than Enron. However, these cases were not isolated incidents and proved to be merely the tip of the iceberg. Several more such fraudulent corporations were investigated by the Federal and state regulators. The principal among these are Adelphia, HealthSouth and Tyco, to name a few.I have a flair for leadership and I often volunteer to lead in various academic projects. Recently, I took over the reins of project, involving the formulation of a business plan to be presented to the board of di rectors. This project emerged as a huge success, despite the difficulties encountered, due to having to lead a team of peers. The team comprised of persons with different temperaments and it required a lot of innovativeness and ingenuity to extract the best from them.I have tremendous patience, as can be attested to by the students of the second grade, whom I teach as a volunteer teacher in the Waller Mill Elementary school, in Williamsburg. The foregoing incidents from my life reveal that I possess a high level of integrity, reliability, planning and implementing capacity, motivational skills, inspiration, ability to work in a team and patience.What are you hoping to achieve during your studies in the MAcc Program?  I will complete my Bachelor’s degree in accounting by the month of May, 2008. Subsequently, I intend to pursue the Masters of Accounting Program at the College of William and Mary's School of Business. This course is truly outstanding and the faculty is the thi rd best in the nation. Classes are typically small and informal. The emphasis is on acquiring expertise. The faculty is easily accessible, if one wants to clarify doubts. In conjunction with my considerable management and leadership skills, this knowledge in accountancy will render me highly suitable for obtaining the Certified Public Accountant license. My principal objective is to become a CPA.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Reasoning Aptitude

Reasoning Aptitude Eric Gibbs BCom275 Sunday, March 31, 2013 Lisa Sanchez Reasoning Aptitude The reasoning career activity was a big help, I already knew that I was struggling in presentation and when I did this activity in my results it gave me a good amount of tips to help develop better presentation skills. I learned a lot from the tips they gave me I learned that before presenting my message, think of how I can communicate my genuine concern to the audience, and show them something in your presentation that clearly demonstrates my commitment to the message.I have to use appropriate body language to reinforce my spoken words, and ensure that the audience understands the importance of the message. Another good tip was to practice and rehearse important presentations in front of a mirror. If possible, I should gain access to a video or at least an audio tape recorder, and record my presentation. Play it back and make a note of areas that didn't come across so well and try again. Thi s tip is the most helpful of all the tips I have received. Learning from my tips, persuasive communication can help me be a better speaker in the career that I choose.The ability to persuade is crucial in the business world. On a day-to-day basis, I need it to convince employees to work toward company goals or to persuade colleagues or clients to consider your ideas and suggestions. If I can master the art of persuasion, I can not only win the support of others, but I also will be able to unify my team and encourage them to work together. Career Interests Profiler Based on what you told us, you are†¦ Download PDF Enterprising Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects.These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business. Social Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others. Conventional Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow. Competencies †¢ Strengths | | |Coping with Pressure |[pic] | |Following Instructions |[pic] | |Delivering Results |[pic] | |Adapting to Change |[pic] | |Organizing |[pic] | |Cooperating |[pic] |Work Culture Results Well resourced †¢ safe place to work †¢ comfortable, well-designed work place †¢ all the necessary resources to do high standard work Ethical †¢ emphasis on fairness †¢ active promotion of equal rights and justice for all †¢ the chance to contribute positively to society and make a difference to people's lives †¢ emphasis on social and environmental responsibility Supportive †¢ secure, stable environment †¢ clearly defined jobs, goals and expectations †¢ no conflicting demands †¢ considerate management †¢ focus on employee welfare †¢ lots of personal development and feedback †¢ lots of recognition and celebration of success †¢ fun place to work

What Ethical Issues Does Ethnography Raise How Might We Deal with These?

Ethics can be defined as a â€Å"set of moral principles and beliefs that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity† with its main principle of doing ‘good’ and preventing harm (Oxford Dictionaries: 2011). However Orb et al (2002:93) states that Ethical issues can best be described or expressed as the â€Å"tension between the aims of research to make generalizations for the good of others, and the rights of participants to maintain privacy. Ethical issues and moral dilemmas are seen to arise in almost any type of research concerning human participants; in quantitative, biomedical, psychological, anthropological and sociological research. The infringement of some ethical issues which arise are considered to be more serious than others; however in order to minimise these ethical dilemmas, researchers must follow and obey a strict set of ethical guidelines in order to protect and minimise harm caused to participants or research subjects.Ur ie Bronfenbrenner suggests that there is no way of conducting research without breaching the principles of professional ethics, and that the only way of avoiding such dilemmas is to cease the conduct of any research (Fine 1993:267). Clearly there a variety of differing ethical dilemmas which occur in research, however those which arise in ethnographic research are in complete contrast to those ethical dilemmas raised in biomedical or quantitative research, where some might suggest that ethical problems are greater (Alder et al 1986).Punch (1994) goes further in suggesting that qualitative studies such as ethnography rarely, if ever, raise ethical issues (Orb 2000:93); however this statement is heavily debated. This essay aspires to discuss and analyse the ethical issues which arise in ethnography and discuss how valid and harmful these issues really are. The paper will also seek to discuss how researchers may overcome these ethical dilemmas and as to whether they are really effectiv e means to dealing with the issue.However, firstly this essay will commence by giving a brief history of ethics, draw upon problems concerning the ethical review board guidelines and outline two contrasting dimensions of ethics. Today ethics are seen to be used as a tool to guide and direct research studies, however it seems that before the mid 1950’s research studies gave little regard to ethical guidelines or their research subjects causing a great deal of harm and distress to individuals and cultures (Akeroyd 008:133). An extreme example of this happened in America, from 1932 to 1972, many African American people where deliberately left untreated for syphilis as researchers wanted to find out what would happen if the illness was left (Orb 2002:93). Questions are today raised as to whether these studies should be disregarded as so many ethical issues and dilemmas were raised in pioneering research.However, today research studies are under strict regulation and scrutiny from ethical review boards, that have developed guidelines and controls which must be obeyed during any type of research. In the US, the Institutional review board (IRB) review all federally funded projects and require the researchers to follow a strict set of rules whilst conducting their studies, such as informing their participants of the objectives of research, obtaining consent from participants, protecting them from harm and so forth (Murphy and Dingwall 2007:340).However the ethical guidelines set by Institutional Review Boards have been criticized greatly by many social scientists claiming that the codes set have been designed around biological or quantitative models of research which are totally inapplicable nor relevant to social research and in particular ethnographic studies (Akeroyd 2008:147). Social scientists argue that the ethical guidelines set are not sensitive to ethnographic research and due to this may cause harm to individuals or groups studied; further they argue that the guidelines are liable to constrict research unnecessarily (Murphy and Dingwall 2007).In ethnographic research it would seem that ethical dilemmas are strongly correlated to the ontological and epistemological foundations of the research. However there seem to be two differing dimensions in explaining ethical issues, firstly is the concequentialist approaches and secondly there is the deontological approaches and in order to accomplish good quality research both approaches must be regarded. The consequentialist approaches are primarily concerned with the outcomes of the research and as too whether the participant is harmed during the study, and if they were, did the ends justified the means?The deontological approaches are on the other hand concerned with the participant’s rights, such as were they treated with respect, informed consent and did were their rights to privacy and autonomy attained (Murphy and Dingwall 2007:340). Many presume that these approaches are in competition however they are not because in actual fact these two contrasting approaches work in sync in order to protect participants from harm whilst also respecting the rights of participants.Beaucamp et al (1982) were one of the first to consider the consequentialist and deontological approaches and devised a list of ethical principles to be complied with when conducting research (Murphy and Dingwall 2007:340). In their list of principles BeauChamp et al noted Non-maleficience, Beneficence, self-determination and justice. They noted that Non-maleficience, requires the researcher to protect participant from harm and Beneficence suggests that the research must discover and obtain something of significance from the research for it to be ethical; these two approaches fall under the consequentialist approach.The deontological approaches outlined by Beaucamp et al are Self-determination, where the researcher must respect participant’s views and beliefs and Justice where the res earcher is required to treat participants as an equal to themselves. Here firstly the consequentialist approaches to ethics will be discussed. Unlike in biomedical research, if harm occurs within ethnographic fieldwork it is likely to be indirect rather than direct.When biological scientists are testing new drugs or surgery they directly put the research participant under risk of harm and the harm will occur during the procedure; however in ethnography the harm which occurs is not so obvious, visible or direct. It would be foolish to think that ethnographic field work was free from the problem of endangering participants; as it can harm individuals, but just not in the same way as biomedical research. In ethnographic field work if harm has taken place, then the participant will most probably not feel the effects until after the study has ended.In ethnography, if participants are ever harmed, they are usually harmed when the research studies they have participated in have been publis hed or publicized (Murphy and Dingwall 2007:341). The reasons which lie behind this are due to the fact that once the work of an ethnographer has been published they have no control over how individuals read or interpret their work and how other people will use their work in the future (Akeroyd 2008). Through the publication of the researchers work research subjects can be put under a great deal of stress, apprehension and embarrassment and through this their confidence and self-worth can become damaged.Participants may become embarrassed about views they hold if they sense that the researcher disagrees with their outlook or if the researcher makes it apparent that they are surprised that they hold such views. Furthermore this embarrassment and anxiousness caused by research may be likely to increase if the media hype the publication of the study, even in cases where the participant’s identity remains anonymous (Murphy and Dingwall 2007:347). An example of a study where the r esearch subject was embarrassed and harmed through the publication of research is ‘Whyte’s Street corner society study’.Richardson (1992:114) writes about ‘Docs’ reaction after reading what was said about him in the study, he suggests that Doc was embarrassed about what was said about him and his sense of pride and self respect was damaged. After the publication of the study ‘Doc’ pleaded with Whyte never to reveal to anyone who he was and to keep his identity anonymous. Boelen writes how ‘Docs’ sons believed that the Street Corner study ruined their father’s life (Richardson 1992:115).In response to this criticism some social scientists have suggested that ethnographers and their participants should work in partnership when producing reports (Murphy and Dingwall 2007). Others have suggested that too deal with such problem, all studies should present their participants with the right to reply. Some research subjects h ave sent letters to their local papers in response to publications they have taken part in. (Slack 2011) Another way in which ethnography is seen to cause harm is through offering ‘tools’ to those in power.Governments and army’s have been seen to use ethnographers in order to manipulate communities and cultures for both economic and political gains. These bodies of power have used ethnography to control those who are weak and powerless. Burgess (1985) suggests that â€Å"ethnographic studies increase knowledge of the adaptive behaviours that actors use of their feelings† (Murphy and Dingwall 2007:341), and we see examples of this happening today. The American department of defence have invested $40 million into a programme they consider to be a â€Å"Crucial new weapon† in their war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. They have hired ocial scientists and anthropologists so that they can grasp an understanding of tribal relations; and as this is seen to be working they are now looking to expand this ‘human terrain team’ (Rohde 2007). The head of the human terrain team see’s the work conducted as vital and defines it as a â€Å"scholar warrior† and as â€Å"rare work of applied scholarship† (Times Higher education 2010). However although it would seem that many anthropologists are happy for their work to play a vital role in shaping military and foreign policy a great number are in firm opposition and are against the militarization of anthropology.Some believe this program is unethical, dangerous and ineffective. They believe it to be unethical as it breaches many ethical codes of practice such as no informed consent and can cause great harm to the research subjects (Network of concerned anthropologists). As previously noted, ethical guidelines state that research should only be authorized and carried out, and is only deemed as ethical if the study has some significant anticipated benefits. Howe ver in ethnography this is a problem. Predicting and anticipating the outcomes and potential benefits prior to research studies is proven to be extremely difficult.In biomedical studies these are much easier to predict and more obvious. However in favour of ethnographic research the risks are not as likely to be as damaging as those displayed in biomedical research (Arskey 2008). It would seem that many would consider that the emotional harm as a result of ethnographic research is far less damaging that that of physical harm such as the testing of new surgery seen in biomedical research; however ultimately the researcher has less control over the participant (Thorne 1980).Harm could also be said to occur in ethnography due to the difficulty in preserving anonymity, as it is clear that no ethnographer can guarantee this. This is due to the fact there is a possibility that field notes transcripts might be read (Murphy and Dingwall 2007). However a suggestion to counteract this problem would be that once researchers have finished with such documents they should destroy them at the earliest possible point they can so that no prying eyes see the information.Furthermore it would seem that there is only ever a small number of qualitative ethnographic research studies ever carried out, and when research is conducted in an overt manner participants will know that the study has taken place and therefore when the work is published will be able to easily identify themselves or their society in the published work. It could also be argued that the close emotional relationships which are formed during ethnographic studies are harmful to research subjects.Unlike in quantitative and biological research, qualitative ethnographic research offers the opportunity for participants and researchers to form close relationships during the period of the study (Richardson 1992). However, when the study finishes and is completed, usually more often than not, the relationship and friendshi p between the participant and the observer also end. This in turn is harming the participant as they are experiencing a loss. Again an example of this can be drawn from the Street Corner Society study conducted by Whyte. Many wonder how ‘Doc’ must have felt after Whyte left, after spending so much time with him.Did ‘Doc’ feel hurt? Because we know that one of the most important thing in ‘Docs’ life was friendships (Richardson 1992:116). Researchers must be careful of the cathartic effects of ethnographic research as the process of legitimise deviant behaviour can be damaging to society, as people may begin to think it is okay to act in such a way. Fine (1993) states that the research conducted on the extremely racist group of the Ku Klux Klan were guilty in doing this. He suggests that the researcher in this study â€Å"dehumanized their informants placing them outside our moral community in the guise of justice† (Fine 1993:272).The rese archer adopted a sympathetic stance to the views of group, and this is clearly not always a positive characteristic, and can be considered to be unethical. In contrast to biological and statistical research, ethnographic work is based on observations and interpretations of what they see. Clearly the researchers own beliefs and values may influence what they write, and what they chose not to write about in their reports. There is much evidence supporting this notion. Fine (1993:227) suggests that readers who believe what they see in quotations marks are foolish because how do they know that is what actually was said or happened.He suggests that maybe what we sometimes see put in quotation marks are lies and misunderstood interpretations. This can be damaging to research subjects or communities under study as they may be portrayed as people they’re not e. g. racist. A programme on Channel 4 called â€Å"Love thy neighbour† is a prime example. In this reality TV show, the village people partake in choosing who gets to live in their village, and as a black family were voted out, these individuals are now portrayed as being racist.However in response to this criticism it could be said that this type of research is ‘conscious raising’, and may get individuals to think twice about their actions and behaviour (Hammersley and Atkinson 1995). The Deontological approaches and dimensions of looking at ethics usually take in to consideration the participant’s rights to privacy respect and self determination that may be infringed. The discussion about privacy and rights within research has been bought to the fore front after the antagonistic response from some previously studied communities, participants and native anthropologists (Murphy and Dingwall 2007:343).Some make the assertion that the rights of the participants are not always regarded just because they have signed a consent form (Akeroyd 2008). Others go further in saying that cons ent forms don’t really protect participants; they are devised primarily to protect the researcher in an event of law action, and in many cases after signing consent forms participants will still be unaware of what the research is about and what their rights are. It is suggested that these consent forms will just reinforce the unequal relationship between the research and their subjects (Homan 1980).Furthermore Price (1996) believes that â€Å"consent forms risk jeopardizing anonymity making people more identifiable† (Murphy and Dingwall 2008:343). Ultimately consent don’t guarantee the total protection of participants identities (Akeroyd 2008). However Bulmer (1980) is a great believer in informed consent, and believes it to be an essential part of any research. Bulmer (1980) is a critic of covert research and argues that this method of research can cause a great deal of harm to participants whilst also violating their rights and autonomy; he sees this type of r esearch as a betrayal of trust.Edward Shills goes further and suggests that this invasion of privacy is a nuisance as it interferes with individual’s lives and cultures (Homan 1980:52). Furthermore critics argue that those who carry out covert research are reinforcing the idea that all social scientists are devious and untrustworthy. However although ethical review boards guidelines and some critics believe that covert research is unethical and breaching the rights of participants, Homan and other supporters of covert research believe that in some cases this research method is acceptable to use, for example a study on secretive communities.Several researchers have adopted the covert role and Laud Humphreys and his ‘Tea Room’ study is one of the most notable; however this study was subject to much scrutiny once it was published as it was seen to be breaching a tremendous amount of ethical guidelines. Questions are raised as to whether it is ethically right to dece ive participants’ but also is it ethically right that research subjects don’t get to know anything about their researchers background as they know so much about theirs. Researchers rarely disclose personal information and if they do some lie.Diane Wolf (1996) claims that many ethnographers have lied about marital status, national identities or religious beliefs; and she is one of those, as during research she lied about her marital status to her research subjects (Denzin & Lincoln 2003). Moral and ethical questions are raised asking whether it is right and proper for the researchers to have all the power in shaping, designing and undertaking studies; researchers are portrayed to be more competent due to this. It is queried whether this is really appropriate? (Denzin & Lincoln 2003).However feminist argue that to evade such a problem the research subjects should be involved in the planning stages of research and have a say in the types of questions asked. However the pr acticality and sensibility of this idea is questioned, is this really an appropriate way of dealing with the problem? Many argue not. Some suggest that this would be impractical and some participants might not want to contribute. It has further been suggested that this is an obscene idea because at the end of the day it is the researcher who has the final word on what is going to be researched (Murphy and Dingwall 2007).Although it would seem the power status between the researcher and research subjects is less reinforced and not so clear within ethnographic research in comparison to other kinds of research; there are some concerns raised about the way that ethnographers can objectify, manipulate and take advantage of research subjects either during the period of the study or in published work. However some argue that the researcher controls are not in fact a breach of the research subjects’ independence and rights, and is not manipulative in anyway (Hammersley & Atkinson 199 5).On the other hand Fine (1993:284) proposes that it is sometimes the case where female ethnographers are objectified rather than the research subjects, due to the fact we live in a sexist world. Moreover Murphy and Dingwall (2007) argue that in some cases it would seem that the research subjects manipulate and exert power over the researchers conducting ethnographic studies. They propose that this happens through refuting the researcher the privilege of conducting research on themselves or their community or through manipulating what they study and not allowing the researcher to have full responsibility and say over the research.However, although it is questionable whether there is a problem of power imbalance between the research and their research subjects, feminists have suggested ways of dealing with this. They attempt to readdress power imbalances in relationships between the researched and researcher, by not enforcing the power the researcher has and balancing relationship s tatuses, making relationships more intimate and authentic (Murphy and Dingwall 2007).However, other critics have replied to this suggesting that the development of closer, sympathetic relationships are far more unethical and dangerous as manipulation on the researchers behalf becomes far easier as participants are more likely disclose thoughts and feeling to whom they feel close to. Furthermore participants may not wish for a relationship with an individual who is researching them (Akeroyd 2008) Once the researcher has published their research findings they usually gain scholarly recognition and financial benefits, whereas the studied groups or individuals gain nothing on this level.As Richardson (1992: 116) points out Whyte is recognised as the single author to the Street Corner Society and â€Å"received all the fame and fortune†, but questions are raised queering if the publication of the study would have been possible at all without ‘Docs’ help . The fortune made in the Street Corner study could have improved ‘Docs’ life a great deal, and a small percentage of the financial could have changed his life. However once the study ended ‘Docs’ fortune did not change, as he remained jobless for practically the rest of his life and living on the bread line.However it would seem that some researchers believe that through giving participants feedback and insight to the research moral dilemma of their financial and scholarly gains are resolved. On the other hand other ethnographic researchers may not feel that this enough and share the royalties from their published work (Slack 2011). Finally a further ethical dilemma concerning ethnographic research methods is that all the data and publications are based primarily on the interpretations made by the researcher, but it is queried whether the researcher has the right to do so (Hammersley & Atkinson 1995).As Calvino (1998:257) states, communities or subjects can become †˜confrontational’ if they feel that the interpretations made of them are inaccurate and mistaken. Murphy and Dingwall (2007) claim that for research to be ethical they must produce accounts that convey the research subjects standpoints and views. However it is argued that ethnographers can and do sometimes take advantage of their empowered roles and construct their own versions of events and interpret data in ways they wish to display such groups.However in order to overcome this dilemma, it has been recommended that researchers should back their analysis and understanding with proof and verification that what was said and done did really happen (Akeroyd 2008). Therefore in conclusion, it is evident that ethnography can and does raise some ethical dilemmas causing harm and infringes the rights of many participants; however it is the duty and obligation of researchers to minimise these effects, even if they hold negative views and dislike the research subjects.Furthermore it is somewhat clear that ethnography can give valuable insights in to unexplored cultures and individuals, however on the negative side it is also seen as a damaging ‘tool’ used by those in power . It is obvious that today, unlike in the past, practically all research abides by ethical guidelines, set by ethical review boards and if they don’t researchers are held liable. Nevertheless, in the near future it is imperative that ethical guidelines should be amended so that they are specific to the issues surrounding ethnography. It is clear that this is the only way that ethnography will be almost fully ethical.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Europeans and Native American culture 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Europeans and Native American culture 2 - Essay Example It shall also focus on how the colonials governed themselves within the religious societies, which evolved constantly despite the restrictions, policies and laws of England and her parliament. Lastly, the paper shall conclude. The relationship between Europeans and Native Americans would be termed as interactive. Native Americans taught Europeans what to wear, how to grow food, and innovative forms of transportation. Native Americans implemented the technology of Europeans like weapons. Europeans brought horses into the land of natives, which they would use to move on the plains and hunt buffalo. The Europeans categorized the natives as superstitious savages thus converted them to Christianity1. Europeans altered the native language through teaching them English. Out of interaction connecting cultures, something novel came and peculiarly American. The new settlers brought diseases with them. A new reality would be seen, in which an ordinary cold made the natives ill, and others died. The entire villages in North America got wiped out by diseases like smallpox, cholera, measles and pneumonia. Smallpox proved to be extremely virulent. It spread extensively among the migratory tribes. The North Americans would be forced to reestablish themselves elsewhere. They suffered malnutrition and death eventually2. The climate fluctuations affected the grasslands’ productivity, native subsistence and migration patterns. There were food shortages that resulted to starvation. This facilitated and exacerbated the effects of diseases on populations and individuals. The colonies encompass the corporate, who got support from companies organized within England for profit. The proprietary involves those contracted as proprietorship to individuals. The crown gets controlled by the monarch. In religious matters, a board or committee known as council formulates laws for administration. The colonists were the secretaries of puritan. The first government of

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Articles of Incorporation (AoI) as a Necessity for a Corporation Essay

The Articles of Incorporation (AoI) as a Necessity for a Corporation - Essay Example This section, together with the first section, distinguishes the type or category of the corporation; for example, profit or not-for-profit organizations. Because the AoI is the legal basis for the relationship among incorporators, there is a section that spells out the limitations to the powers and privileges of those that manage the corporation as it regards the, for instance, earnings of the corporation. It further distinguished what is personal and what is corporate in terms of assets and liabilities. In addition, the AoI states the management structure of the corporation including board members. A section usually outlines this structure, membership and roles. As a reference document, the AoI also makes provisions for managing corporation’s assets and liabilities in case of dissolution. Finally, the AoI carries the signature of the incorporators or the legally recognized representatives (http://managementhelp.org/legal/articles.htm). Because AoI is a legal document, it must be signed by the incorporators or the legally recognized representatives. It is usually prepared by legal practitioners and approved by government agencies. Once it is signed and sealed, it becomes the reference document for the operation of the corporation. Changes, such as the transformation of a private corporation owned by few individuals to a public corporation owned by a large number of shareholders and usually quoted in the stock market, must be reflected in the respective sections and clauses. Agency theory seeks to explain the relationship between a principal(s), who hires an agent(s) for services and delegate the power of  decision-making to the agent(s). It also seeks to examine variations in behaviors in the principal-agent relations. These relations could be harmonious or frictional.  

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The Beatles Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Beatles Analysis - Essay Example The band managed to produce many films that include A Hard Day’s Night, Help, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine,  Abbey road, and  Let It Be (Neaverson, 1997, p.1). The band had immense  influence on  rock and roll music that saw them to greater commercial success and a controversial change of US global dominance from  rock and roll to UK acts, changes in fashion, from soloists to groups, and from professional  songwriters to self-penned songs (Medhurst, 1995, p 65). In addition, Ringo Starr who was one of the Beatle members left an impact in the film industry. In addition, many tales area also associated with the band. Their unique way of narration, characterization, music, and performance made them legends in this industry. However, the band separated later on in 1970 because of the death of the Beatles' manager, disagreements on his replacement, Brian Epstein in 1967,the marriage of Lennon and Yoko Ono, the release of let it be, and participation of Lennon in the Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival Festival. The remaining members were called The Silver Beatles.† This essay will analyze the A Hard Day's Night and Yellow Submarine films by the Beatles. A Hard Day's Night The film came out on 10 July 1964, and comprised of seven sound tracks. The Beatles had reasons to be skeptical about appearing in pop musicals and specifically on the A Hard Day's Night. The bands lacked any formal acting experience and hence, were initially not ready to participate in the film. Due to their demeaning confidence in the cast and subsequent profitability of the film, the United Artists' budget for  A Hard Day's Night  was considerably set at a low ?200,000 where the Beatles were to receive ?20,000, and 7% of the net profits. music The soundtrack of the film contained Can't Buy Me Love’, ‘Tell Me Why’, ‘If I Fell’, ‘I Should Have Known Better’, ‘I’m Happy Just to Dance with You’, and â €˜And I Love Her’. A Hard Day's Night became the opening title and its recording took place shortly before the completion of shooting. Indeed, the song came because of the film lacking an original title. As such, the music used especially, A Hard Day's Night develops the stars and film. Actually, Lennon had one evening to write the song and one day to play it to the producer of the film. Due to dangers posed by the railway transport, the cast had to change routes to avoid risky actions of their fans. Characterization shows the character's appearance, displays the character’s actions, reveals the character’s thoughts, lets the character speaks, and, gets the reactions of the audience. The cast of the film took place at various London locations and its recording took place at Twickenham studios in a record eight weeks. The haste involved and the short time limits created a work backlog for the Beatles. The members had a number of commitments that included atten ding awards ceremonies, making appearances on British television, shooting the film, and completing the soundtrack album. Indeed, Lennon took one evening to compose the soundtrack and present it while Lester had to shoot parts of a group sequence without Lennon, who was committed somewhere else. At some point, the information on the film would have leaked as the Beatles travelled by train from locations to studios and other

Monday, August 26, 2019

The real meaning and its impact of characters' symbols in the Great Research Paper

The real meaning and its impact of characters' symbols in the Great Gatsby - Research Paper Example e same time reflects upon the deviation from the American dream in the context of the individual desires of individuals that run counter parallel and counterproductive to the actual goals that may be set forth in life to be achieved (Tyson, 40). A personal way of life, inspired by the social outfit, stands in conflict with the American dream as well as the moral and social values of a respectable society. Gatsby originally had a humble background to his record and he overtook the rich life style to cover it up. While the American Dream was based on values, moral up gradation and standardized living along with the social development, the movie depicts characters that have seen deviation from the core value of the American dream. Money has become the center stone of the attraction and desire of the people. The 20s decade saw progress however at the cost of the moral values (Hobby, 67). The overall script is prepared against a backdrop of a society and environment that was driven by the scientific developments and progress all over. In the wake of such developments, the people’s orientation and desire for acquiring more wealth, parties, expensive life styles, origination of the new music genres, different brands coming forth in the field of clothes and in the domain of car manufacturing industries were few of the progressive elements that were part of the American society at that time. This development in turn led to the people’s desire for collecting money and rising in social status and earning the recognition. Happiness has been always attributed to the accomplishment of the goals in the American Dream. However the American dream set forth the pattern and elements that would allow accomplishment of such goals. In the light of such a nationalistic ideology, there is little space or margin for negative activities and functions which may corrode an individual’s character or ambitions. The 20s decade of the last century was characterized by a totally

Sunday, August 25, 2019

1). Produce a 500 - 600 word account of an incident from your Essay

1). Produce a 500 - 600 word account of an incident from your experience that provides an example, or examples of communication processes. 2). Then write an ess - Essay Example This made Chen a sort of pariah at school, often subjected to ridicule as he did such things as taking off his shoes when entering a room or squatting on the floor even when there are chairs around. No one has exactly told Chen to his face that he was odd, but the snickering behind his back did not escape unnoticed and this made him very insecure and hostile of his surroundings. Chen and I are classmates at one of the courses he is taking and my heart goes out to him every time I see him between classes, alone and looking miserable in a corner but showing no inclination to give himself a social life on campus. Eventually, I decided to talk some sense into him, intending to persuade him that his education in globalization will not be complete if he continued keeping his distance from other people. In the process, I expected a gain a new friend. I saw the opportunity to open the conversation with Chen when I caught his eye one day as he looked up from the book he was reading on a bench at the school playground. This is more or less how I started the conversation: â€Å"All of the school notice that you keep to yourself all the time. We wish to make friends with you to make your stay in this school worthwhile; don’t you want us to be your friends, too? From the school records, I understand that you’re studying here because of a long-term goal to make good in international business. That kind of business pursuit requires that you be good at dealing with all kinds of people, you know.† After some hesitation, Chen bowed and responded: â€Å"All of you seem to be nice people, but I didn’t come here to socialize, sorry. And we Chinese deal with people our own way.† He ended the conversation then and there, indicating that I failed to communicate my intended message to him. The way the conversation turned out, I made a new enemy instead of gaining a friend. In retrospect, I realize that my choice of language and approach was at fault since I sounded

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Global mgmt wk 3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global mgmt wk 3 - Research Paper Example This software assists in decision-making that helps increase margins and enhance cash flows. Microsoft Dynamics NAV improves your confidence and visibility on all levels of your business by providing â€Å"an intuitive RoleTailored user interface, built-in workflows, and integrated systems† (Microsoft, 2012). It also offers self-help tools to its end-users and real-time information that minimizes the need to ask assistance from IT personnel. It also provides third-party solutions. This system requires only low investment and is highly compatible to your existing technology, thus, avoiding the need and costs for upgrade. It is available in different countries and provides translation to selected languages. It provides service plan that allows users to upgrade to newer versions. Costs start at $2,610 per single user, but the final pricing is determined by the purchasing partner. Pros: Suitable for any organization size, simple and user-friendly, offers self-help tools and third-party solutions, minimizes upgrade costs, widely available and multilingual, compatible with existing technology DBA Manufacturing is software for small businesses. It is good for 5-50+ users and combines the core functions of ERP and MRP. It resolves the complexities of ERP systems. It offers process workflow that is suitable to any company. It enhances operational performance, quality and efficiency, while minimizing inventory and work in progress status. This software provides a unique self-help sales model that allows users to freely navigate the software. It offers a lower price and incurring costs. There is also a downloadable free evaluation tool on their website, where the mentioned sales model was derived. It includes sample company data on a sample version of the software. DBA is self-implemented unlike other ERP systems which outsource consultants for implementation. It allows its end-users to start up the system on their own. Inquiries

Friday, August 23, 2019

Genetic Disease Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Genetic Disease - Case Study Example Rita inherited the recessive gene from her father and became a carrier. Since both Peter and Rita are carriers for the recessive gene, there is a 25% chance that their child could well be suffering from Tay-Sachs disease. The screening test (CVS) for fetal genetic defects confirmed that the fetus was indeed afflicted by the Tay-Sachs disease. Rita (43 years) and Peter (46 years) have been trying to have a baby for more than 2 years, Rita has conceived now. There is sufficient documentation to show that the peak fertility period for women is between 20-24 years of age, after which it begins to decrease and this explains the delayed conception. The website www.babycentre.co.uk states that "According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, "At 35 you're half as fertile as when you were at 25; at 40 you're half as fertile as when you were 35". This means that it can suddenly take much longer to get pregnant when you hit your late thirties or early forties and you may have problems conceiving at all." Another problem is that the odds of having a baby with a genetic defect increase as you get older. Figures from the Office of National Statistics for 2005, show that the risk of having a baby with a genetic abnormality such as Down's syndrome rises from 2 per 1,000 births at ages 35-39 years, to 4 per 1,000 at age 40-44 years up to 14 per 1,000 at age 45 years or over. If you're almost, or over 40, you should strongly consider genetic testing because the risk of genetic problems increases significantly. Both Rita and Peter have crossed their peak fertility age and are therefore in the high risk category for genetic disorders. The physician, ordered for a CVS to rule out any genetic defects in the developing fetus. The genetic screening pointed to Tay-Sachs in the fetus. Prior to this genetic screening neither Peter nor Rita ever suspected that they could be carriers for the Tay-Sachs disease. The Tay-Sachs disease is an autosomal recessive disease which is a result of mutation in both the alleles of the gene Hex-A seen in chromosome 15. As a result of the mutation, an enzyme called Hexosaminidase A is either not produced at all, or, is not produced in sufficient quantity. This insufficiency leads to an abnormal accumulation of a lipid called GM2 ganglioside in the nerve cells especially in the brain leading to progressive damage of the cells and eventual death of the cells. Children who suffer from this disease usually die before the age of five, because, by this age the nervous system is so seriously affected that it cannot support life. Knowing that it is a recessive gene that causes the disease, is good news for the Trosack couple. A recessive gene can express itself in a particular generation only if it is present in a double dose, this occurs only if the progeny has inherited the recessive gene from both its parents. The chance of the couple passing on the recessive genes to their progeny, so as to exhibit the condition is only

Thursday, August 22, 2019

American Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

American Government - Essay Example The three arms of government include the Executive which is headed by the president, the Legislature which is divided into the two Congress chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives and finally the Judiciary which is made up of the Supreme Court and other courts at a much lower level. The Executive wing of the government is made up of the President, Vice-President and the Cabinet. The president of the is responsible for conducting the federal laws, coming up with new strategies, offering direction on foreign policies and directing the operations of the national defense since he is the chief of staff. He has such powers as offering direction to the government, issuing command to the armed forces and playing the role of enforcing the laws as well as vetoing them. The Vice-presidents main duty is to offer any form of assistance to the president as stipulated by the law and he/she is chosen by the president. The 15 member cabinet which is appointed by the president upon app roval of the senate plays the role of formulating and ensuring the implementation of policies that affects their various dockets. The Judiciary is concerned with the interpretation, application and the determination of any contravention to the laws of the land. The federal government has some exclusive powers that cannot be shared by other levels of the government. The declaration of war is strictly the role of the federal government. It decides on the process of money printing and the number of denominations to be made by the central bank. The decision on the formation and establishment of the various army branches such as the navy lies squarely with the federal government. Signing of international treaties and decision to join any international body is conducted by the federal government. It also plays the role of regulating business activities between the states and other countries as well as formation of laws that assist

The play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

The play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare Essay The play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is one of the English playwrights’ most popular plays, both on the stage and in classrooms. Although often thought of as one of his simplest and most straightforward plays, The Tragedy of Macbeth is actually one of Shakespeare’s most successful attempts at exploring different gender roles and disrupting gender roles which were considered to be â€Å"norms† in his era. One of the first examples of Shakespeare disrupting gender roles with Lady Macbeth is in Act 1, Scene 5. According to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is too kind and weak-minded to kill Duncan and become King. She, therefore, resolves to â€Å"pour my spirits in thine ear, and chastise with the valor of my tongue†, which is another way of saying that she will keep nagging and pester him to go through with the deed and kill Duncan so that he may become king. In Shakespeare’s time, men were the dominant one in a marriage. Women were supposed to obey their husbands without question and essentially to be â€Å"ruled over† similarly to how an empire is ruled over by an emperor. When Shakespeare wrote this play, it was unheard of and perhaps even unimaginable for a woman to be the dominant one in a relationship. It is very likely that Shakespeare’s audience would have been scandalized by the sight of a woman taking control of a relationship and would have viewed it as tantamount to treason. The most widely used example of Shakespeare disrupting gender norms in Macbeth is in Act 1 Scene 5 in Lady Macbeth’s famous soliloquy: Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Stop up th\ access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep the peace between Th\ effect and it. Come to my woman\s breasts, And take my milk for gall, you murd\ring ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature\s mischief. In this segment, Lady Macbeth calls upon evil spirits to turn her into the man that she needs to be to carry out her plan to assassinate Duncan by taking her breast milk, typically used to portray gentleness, kindness, and motherhood. This is the first time in the play that the audience really gets to see Lady Macbeth’s true nature, and how evil and mentally unstable she is. In Shakespeare’s time, seeing a woman behave this way would no doubt have made many people very uncomfortable. One other example of gender stereotypes affecting Macbeth’s plot takes place in Act 2, Scene 3. After the murder of Duncan by Macbeth, Macduff says to Lady Macbeth: O gentle lady, Tis not for you to hear what I can speak. The repetition in a womans ear, Would murder as it fell. This line shows how much Macduff is tied to the old stereotype of gentle, kind and compassionate women. Because of this, he never once suspects Lady Macbeth of being involved in Duncan’s murder because he doesn’t believe that a woman can even hear or speak on the topic of murder, let alone plan and carry out the deed herself. This proves to be critical to the plot. If Macduff had set aside his prejudices about what women supposedly can and can’t do, then he might have even begun to suspect Lady Macbeth of orchestrating Duncan’s assassination. I for one believe that Lady Macbeth was aware of these prevalent prejudices and stereotypes and was counting on them to deflect suspicion off of her so she and Macbeth would have an unobstructed path to the throne. But perhaps the best example of a character in Macbeth refuting a men’s stereotype comes from Macduff in Act 4 Scene 3 after the death of his wife and child. The conversation between him and Malcolm takes place as follows: MACDUFF He has no children. All my pretty ones? Did you say \ all\? O hell-kite! All? What, all my pretty chickens and their dam At one fell swoop? MALCOLM Dispute it like a man. MACDUFF I shall do so, But I must also feel it as a man. I cannot but remember such things were That were most precious to me. In this short excerpt, upon hearing about the tragedy that has taken place, Malcolm tells Macduff to fight it like a man, to which Macduff replies that will do just that, but he has to feel it as well as fight it. A little later he states: Oh, I could play the woman with my eyes, And braggart with my tongue! This tells us that he is weeping for the loss of his wife and child and feeling and acknowledging his sorrow. During Shakespeare’s time, it was expected that men, when beset with such tragedies, would quickly convert their sorrow into white-hot rage instead of really mourning the loss of their loved ones in the way we do today. Macduff, by literally weeping for his family, breaks this gender norm and allows Shakespeare to show his audience that it is not dishonorable for full-grown men to show emotion- in fact, it is the exact opposite. In summary, The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is one of the best examples of any author/playwright disrupting gender norms in the 16th-17th century. Several of the characters in this play act out of what was considered ordinary or even acceptable at that time period. As seen in paragraph 4, even the plot is, to an extent, dependent on one of the characters (Macduff) being unsuspicious of Lady Macbeth simply because she is a woman.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

A Memetic Algorithm for Multi Level Redundancy Allocation

A Memetic Algorithm for Multi Level Redundancy Allocation Abstract Reliability Redundancy allocation problem determines the component reliability and redundancy level for each subsystem in order to improve the system reliability. Redundancy allocation problem is NP-hard problem and hence various Heuristic and meta-heuristic approaches are being applied.[1] This paper proposes a memetic algorithm to solve the RAP problem. Although the real engineering experience deals with multi-level systems, in this paper prior assumptions are made such that the algorithm has been applied to single level systems. This proposed MA is then compared against the HGA of a two multi-level systems and the proposed MA has outperformed the HGA of two multi-level system. INTRODUCTION of Articles In this article, a new Memetic algorithm has been proposed to solve the Redundancy Allocation Problem which has attained great attention in recent years. Prior assumptions has been made in order to investigate the Multi-Level Redundancy Allocation problem and the three important assumptions are: If a unit is not at its lowest level then its child units are assumed to be serial and they are fixed. The second assumption is that the redundancy can be allocated to the units at any level and the final assumption is that the quality of each component is predefined and the cost and the reliability are calculated based on child units if and only if the unit is not a component. From the various literature review which has been carried out, it is found that there are few approaches to MLRAP and these are rarely being investigated. Genetic Algorithm and the modified Genetic Algorithm which is the Hierarchical Genetic Algorithm is although considered to be the significant approach for MLRAP, the effectiveness of these approaches can be improved. Thus for the improvement in these approaches, the new Memetic Algorithm has been proposed in this article. Memetic algorithm is a population based eta-heuristic search method which uses the combination of global search engines along with the local search heuristics. According to the article MA is more successful than the GA because of two key issues. One is the appropriate balance between the global and local search engines and the other is the cost effectiveness. In this article two new genetic operators and a new problem specific local search operator are incorporated in the MA framework and a new MA has been proposed for approaching the MLRAP. In this article, the parts of a multi-level serial system has been defined hierarchically at the topmost level and the sub system has been defined at the lower level and the components in the lowest level. As per the assumption made previously, there is fixed number of child units for each unit except a component. The redundancy allocation procedure always starts from the system level and moves to the component level for a multi-level serial system. The reliability of the multi-level serial system can be calculated using, While the reliability of the units at the lower level can be calculated on the basis of the components using, Also the cost for the multi-level serial system is calculated using, When applying the Conventional GA for solving MLRAP, the decision variables becomes in fixed number during problem solving. Whereas in MLRAP problem solving the decision variable changes due to the change in redundancy allocation to a unit. Hence to overcome this problem, a hierarchical structure has been proposed in the article which is capable of changing the decision variables. Nomenclature Explanation of the work presented in journal articles The proposed MA in the article has two types of operators which consists of the genetic operator for global explorations and the local search operator for exploitation. This section explains the articles you reviewed. In the proposed model, the quality of the solutions should be evaluated and from the literature the author of the article has pointed out many techniques to measure the quality of the solution out of which a penalty function which has been proposed by Gen and Cheng has been used to derive the fitness function to evaluate the quality of the solution during the search process. This fitness function is given by, ÃŽÂ ¨(x) is the penalty function which measures the extent of the solution violating the constraints. The initialization of the MA is generally done at the system level and it starts from generating the random population of solutions. For a system of multi-level series, K integer is generated randomly for n child unit n X k redundancy units have to be generated at the second level and goes on until an individual is obtained. Of the two proposed genetic operators, before being applied the hierarchical representation need to be selected. And hence the solution highly depends on type of the hierarchical representation being selected. Then the two genetic operators will be applied to the iteration and both the operator treat the unit or the system at the same level. Of the two genetic operators, the crossover between two individuals occurs in three steps. Initially an intermediate is selected from the system and component level and the higher level is being assigned higher probability. Finally the selected levels exchange their lower structures to give two new individuals. Whereas the mutation also occurs in three steps but is applied to individual level. The first two steps remains the same as the crossover and the third step is replacing the redundancy of the selected unit by a randomly generated integer. Also when changing the redundancy corresponding decision variable o the parent unit should also be updated. The other operator of the proposed MA is the local search operator. In the new MA proposed in the article, local search operator is implemented in three steps. The population solution are evaluated through the metric which is given by, Then a single individual is chosen from the population solution. The local search is carried out based on it. Then the individual with the higher metric is selected for local search. For an MLRAP, it is desired to have an optimal system for a higher reliability and the reliability to cost ratio serves as a measure to determine the potential of the individual solution. The local search operator randomly selects ten pairs of components and for each pair the redundancy of the components are modified and during this search newly generated individual will be stored in the archive if and only if it donot violate the cost constraint. Finally, the preserved inividual will be mixed with the population solution and arranged descendingly and the top most individuals will be used discarding others. Discussion of Contributions Two systems has been taken into consideration. One system with three levels and the other system with four levels. With this systems into consideration, the performance of the proposed MA is to be evaluated and compared with the performance of conventional HGA. Since there are a number of control parameters in both HGA and the proposed MA, there are some values which are to be preset before beginning the experiment. For fair process, the values which has been set for HGA is used as same for the proposed MA for problem A. In this experiment the aim is to study the convergence behavior of the proposed MA in order to compare it with HGA. The best solution obtained in each generation is recorded and the corresponding system reliability is calculated. It is seen that both the methods converged fast whereas the convergence of the proposed MA is significantly better than the convergence of the HGA which is shown in Fig 1. Fig:1 Comparison of convergence between HGA and MA for Problem A.[1] Furthermore the comparisons has been carried by varying the numerous cost constraints. 20 cost constraint values are varied between the intervals 150 to 340 leaving the system parameters unchanged. For every constraint values, MA and HGA were applied 10 times to each cost constraint. The observations are made for each and every run and the reliability and the cost constraints are calculated and compared between MA and HGA. From the calculative comparison, it is evident that the proposed new MA has outperformed the conventional HGA for problem A that is the system with three levels. The same kind of experiment is carried out for problem B to examine whether the advantage of MA holds a variety of system parameters. Similar to the problem A, ten test instances are obtained and the MA and HGA are applied to each instances for ten times. The convergence of MA is significantly better than the convergence of HGA which is shown below. Fig:2 Convergence of MA and HGA for problem 2[1] Since the same kind of experiment was done on problem B, the results were also quite the same. The proposed MA has outperformed the conventional HGA. Discussion of Dificiency and Potential Improvements The article being reviewed here discusses only about the multi-level serial system and the experimentation has been done considering this system alone. Changing the condition and the structure of the system changes the reliability and the cost function of the corresponding solution changes. Also the proposed MA gives significant reliability for the multi-level serial system, the proposed MA should also be extended to multi-level serial systems of complex structures. Also the problems which is being formulated in the article are single objective or are of only one goal of increasing the reliability of the system by having the cost reduction as only one constraint. Instead, in the future research, the problems can be formulated with multiple objective and multiple constraint along with the cost constraint. This type of approach with multiple objective problems will yield multiple solutions which has trade-off between the system reliability and cost constraint. Summary The RAP which has attained a global attention among the researchers motivating them to find the solution for the RAP. Though many algorithms, techniques and approaches have been proposed by many researchers around the world, there is something which can be improved in each and every approach proposed by researchers to solve the MLRAP. In this article, the author has given a detailed approach on how does a reliability problem works and formulated in a way that the problem deals with the multi-level serial system of simple structure. Upon formulating a problem, the author tries to make proper assumptions to advocate the formulated problem. Then the author just solves it with the conventional GA approach which yields a good system reliability. Then the problem is again solved with the new method. This new method is being proposed by the author is the novel Memetic Algorithm where some preconditioning is being done to the solution that is being selected form the population solution. The solution is checked for the quality by using a fitness function. Now the population solution will be initialized and the two search operators of the MA is applied to the selected and preserved solution from the population samples of solution. The solutions which are being obtained from the search operators are then being combined with the population and the best among them is selected. The process is repeated for various generations and the best individual will be selected as the solution for the MLRAP. Then the approaches are compared and it is found that the proposed MA has outperformed the conventional HGA irrespective of the type of multi-level serial system of same structure. Acknowledgments I would like to thank Dr. Wang,   fellow, IEEE, and Dr. Tang, fellow, IEEE and Dr. Yao, fellow, IEEE for their research study that was done by them to prepare the article, which helped me to understand the concept behind the RAP and MLRAP and the techniques used to solve or approach MLRAP. I would also like to express my Thanks to Dr. Pingfeng Wang, Graduate Coordinator in Wichita State University for his valuable advice which guided me through this project and helped me to complete this review successfully. References [1] Wang, Z., Tang, K., Yao, X. (2010). A memetic algorithm for multi-level redundancy allocation. IEEE Transactions on reliability, 59(4), 754-765. [2]  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Sharifi, M., Cheragh, G., Maljaii, K. D., Zaretalab, A., Daei, A. V. F., Vahid, A. (2015). RELIABILITY OPTIMIZATION OF A SERIES-PARALLEL K-OUT-OF-N SYSTEM WITH FAILURE RATE DEPENDS ON WORKING COMPONENTS OF SYSTEM. International Journal of Industrial Engineering, 22(4), 438-453.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Many Factors That Affect Communication Social Work Essay

Many Factors That Affect Communication Social Work Essay Interpersonal skills, majority of the managers chose interpersonal skills as their greatest strength. Managers must have a good communication skill in dealing with their stakeholders. In Catherine Lodge, our manager has effective communication skills in dealing with the entire situation with regards to residents needs if it is being met, staff, and residents families. A good company wouldnt have a very strong foundation without a team that helps in problem-solving. Care workers must be careful in recognising a problem by assessment, know the possible cause and effect, and plan for the procedure thoroughly. Team work will set in, as the person who recognises the problem will report to the team, to assess, collect all the data, and to plan the best action. Communication is still there as they are following a process of solving a problem, and in decision-making. (http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2629217?uid=3738032uid=2129uid=2uid=70uid=4sid=21101226337883) The aim of the policy is to ensure that the effective channels of communication are established, supported and maintained. It believes that the communication of good information promotes quality care, offers clients assistance in making informed choices and plays a vital role in motivating and supporting staff. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢To enable us to fulfil our statutory responsibilities to provide information. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To communicate effectively with staff about ongoing issues, policies and procedures. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To provide opportunities to consult with staff and for them to express their Views and offer ideas and suggestions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To communicate effectively with clients and their representatives. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ To promote the quality of service that we provide to our clients. Technology is moving so fast nowadays that we have many electronic aids to help us communicate. For example, smart phones can used to make calls, send text messages and emails; can used to make video call where you can see the person on the other line, can leave a voice message if its not available. There are many factors that affect communication. They are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sensory deprivation when someone cannot receive or pass information because of visual and hearing disabilities. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Foreign language when someone has different accent, different pronunciations, and/or uses sign language that the other person does not speak, or understand. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Jargon Using of medical terminology to a patients, service users, and family members that they may not understand, it is better to explain things according to the level of their understanding because understanding the facts can make something appear less scary. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Slang when a care worker uses a language that is not everyone uses, or familiar with. Cultural differences there are some things that has the same meaning but could mean different in two cultures. For example, keeping an eye contact whilst communicating is seen as being respectful, and being truthful, but for some culture like in East Asia for them it is a sign of being rude and defiant. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Distress everyone can experience distress, this can be difficult for them to clearly understand what is being said due to lack of focus. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Emotional difficulties every one of us has emotional difficulties at times and can make us upset. The negative effect is not to hear or understand clearly what the other person is is telling you and can lead to misunderstanding. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Health issues when the person is ill, he/she cannot be an effective communicator, especially service users that suffering from Parkinsons disease or Multiple Sclerosis affect an individuals ability to communicate properly, care worker should be trained and aware on how to work with these people. Communication Audit it is a method use to identify the Strengths and Weakness of your current and external communications. Organisations recognise the benefit of keeping their customers, clients, investors, partners and/or members aware of happening with in their organisation. The techniques they choose are varied, ranging from the tried and true e.g. e-mailings, and website postings, variant of high technology tools. Placing a suggestions box at the front door gives the residents family to write their comments and suggestions anonymously or they can name their names, and/or they can even go straight to the managers, seniors for their comments. Making quarter year survey that requires family member of clients to answer a questionnaire, and they are free to add their comments. When Stakeholders reach out: developing and implementing a promotion plan We go into developing a promotion plan. We offer steps and examples. From there we look at what a communication plan entails. Emerging from this we look at relating to the media. We highlight the importance of identifying key messages and who your target audience is for different promotion work. Finally, we offer lots of suggestions for nervous speechmakers. Promoting your organisation: when people reach in: A large part of an organisations work happens through telephone contact and with visitors coming to your office. If you put people off with a negative attitude when people phone in or visit, you will probably end up having an organisational image not to your liking. So, we look at promoting your organisations image in this context. We give ideas about your reception area, how you receive people, handling phone calls and e-mails. And we end off looking at how you can monitor and evaluate your organisat ion. Task 2 Report Catherine Lodge is a residential care home that aims to provide continuous professional care to all its residents within a safe, friendly and relaxed environment. It caters up to 39 elderly residents providing each individual with a personal form of service derived from a carefully formulated care plan that meets their needs. This is provided both in short and long term basis depending on each individual. Since each resident has specific needs that range from physical, psychological, social or spiritual needs on a 24 hour basis it requires a certain level of personnel to facilitate this. Show me the money! Well, thats what financial data do. They show you the money. They show you where a companys money came from, where it went, and where it is now. There are four main financial data. They are: (1)  balance sheets; (2)  income statements; (3)  cash flow statements; and (4)  statements of shareholders equity. Balance sheets show what a company owns and what it owes at a fixed point in time. Income statements show how much money a company made and spent over a period of time. Cash flow statements show the exchange of money between a company and the outside world also over a period of time. The fourth financial statement, called a statement of shareholders equity, shows changes in the interests of the companys shareholders over time. A balance sheet provides detailed information of companys asset, liabilities and shareholders equity. Assets are things that company owns that have value. They can either be sold or used by the company to provide services that can also be sold. It also includes physical property of the residents that can/cant be touched but nevertheless exist and have value. Liabilities are amounts of money that a company owes to others e.g. all kinds of obligations like borrowed money from a bank, payroll a company owes to its employees, environmental costs, taxes owed, and obligations to provide good quality of services. Shareholders equity or capital Income statements is a report that shows how much revenue a company earned over a specific period, it also shows the companys net earnings and losses. Cash flow statement report a companys inflows and outflows of cash. This is important because a company needs to have enough cash on hand to pay its expenses and purchase assets. While an  income statement  can tell you whether a company made a profit, a cash flow statement can tell you whether the company generated cash. It shows the net increase or decrease in cash for a period. In Residential home, we have enough staff to work in the morning, in the afternoon and at night. We have a monthly staff meeting to raise our concern at work, problems with our colleagues, and suggestions on resident/s care plan, and we also have a separate Senior Carers meeting, the Manager/Owner and the Deputy Manager always presents the Carers the needs of good communication, and team work. We have supervision every 3 months, the manager is giving feedback to identify our strengths and weaknesses, and if they think the staff needs to be trained, and appraisal every 6 months in which we rate ourselves, and the Deputy Manager is rating the staff as well in our performance, we can voice out our own opinion, about the job, colleagues and if we are getting support from the Managers. The company also provided us mandatory training, manuals, booklets, presentation from the lecturer and a questionnaire that we need to answer at the end of the training. Catherine Lodge has a seasonal newsl etter where they introduce new staff member, residents who celebrated their birthday, and about the achievements of the company. A good communication skill is very important, specially working in care settings. Working with vulnerable adults requires more understanding, must have different techniques and strategies use in supporting communication between the individual with specific communication needs. Good communication with vulnerable adult is essential. This includes identifying behaviour triggers, by means of visual prompts and speaking in short, clear sentences. I considered that the social workers used verbal and non-verbal forms of communications and applied the principles of active listening. Some people with disabilities are not able to use speech as their principle means of communication. They may however be able to use an alternative method of communication such as symbols and symbolic languages. It is vital to recognise that symbols are different from pictures. Pictures generally convey a lot of information at once but their focus is often unclear. Symbols, on the other hand, are often designed to convey a particular meaning. Symbols or symbolic languages can be applied to signify many aspects of verbal communication. Symbols can be presented through visual, auditory and/or tactile media and can take the form of gestures, photos, manual signs, printed words, objects, reproduced spoken words or Braille. Symbols help understanding which can increase involvement, choice and confidence. It helps support creativity and self expressions. Using mobile phones at work is strictly prohibited, as it may interfere in whatever the carer is doing or it may cause accident e.g if the Carer is feeding, doing morning care. Some residents may have challenging behaviour that sometimes affects the carer itself, they best react in a calm, quiet environment, Carer must consider the Residents preference, cultural difference, language and environment, assumptions, judging, noise, and distraction. The use of technology helps the care workers by having an easy access by just typing the residents name all his/her information daily report will come out in one click, comparison graph of residentials weight incomparable from past to present will easily available in one click, not unlike if it is just written and filled you have to search for it and check the book where you filed it. Make work a lot easy, report will neat and tidy, because it is easy to edit if you accidentally misspelled. Disadvantage of it is if the computer got virus and/or the system got hacked all the information will wipe out, that will give an extra work for the manager, care workers, and andmin. Code of Practice sets out the minimum standards and guidelines for hygiene, fire building safety, and the level of care required , which aims at ensuring that residents in the homes receive services of acceptable standards that are of benefit to them physically, emotionally and socially. (http://www.swd.gov.hk/doc/downsecdoc/code_rchpd.pdf)I will assess the workplace strategies, policies and procedures that should be in place to ensure good practice in relation to all forms of communication in health and social care setting. The health and social care industry mainly focuses on the heart of care. Since it involves people, communication takes a very important role. Effective communication is not only significant to the health care professionals in ensuring the improvement of clients quality of life by addressing their needs. It is also the clients and support systems right in the promotion of their equality and diversity as people. Workplace strategies, policies, and procedures for good practice in communication focus on ensuring privacy, and confidentiality, disclosure, protection of individuals, rights and responsibilities, and equal opportunities. Moreover, a practice on disciplinary procedures, complaints policy, and flexible working also benefit the entire health care team. If all these flow efficiently, there will be no hindrance in the system of communication. For example, one of our residents had a GP appointment and I escorted her. When we arrived in the GP surgery, the receptionist asks the residents loudly for the reason that I am in the GP surgery in which other patients can hear, there is a break in the policy of ensuring privacy. Whenever I start expressing my concerns at her pace, then I will definitely not have my privacy. It establishes a barrier between us personally and professionally. As a patient, I might start complaining with regards to her action. Effective communication is a key factor in success may it be in work or association. It is always a part of personal and professional progress. Therefore, to master communication skills and techniques is a very important area to develop in each individual. In the given scenario its implication is to render a quality health care service which benefits the service providers and the service users. Data Protection is designed for person responsible for safeguarding the confidentiality of information and of the person giving his or her own information. One of its purposes is to safeguard the fundamental rights of individuals. This act governs the right storage and processing of personal data held in manual records and on computers. Under this act, the rights of the individual are protected by forcing organisations to follow proper and sound practices, known as data principles (DPP). Reporting and recording of information is a vital form of communication needed to ensure the safety of vulnerable adults. Parts of a carers daily routine should include making notes in a care file, as well as using communication books, forms and documents. Make sure that the writing is legible and clear, that is signed and dated, and that where necessary copies are made. http://transparency.dh.gov.uk/dataprotection/information-charter/ Health and Safety inspections are an important monitoring tool to help ensure that workplace hazards are controlled and that risk to employees and others are eliminated or minimised. Inspections should be carried out regularly.  Carers must inspect the equipment/s before using it, report and record all faulty equipment/s to the Manager e.g. heating, lightning, and ventilation. Charter is for anyone who has dealings with the Department of Health whether through correspondence, involvement in public policy consultations or if for any other reason we hold personal information about the resident. Communication and listening gives clues to a better understanding of an individuals preferences and wishes. Gathering information about an individual will lead to creative and supportive ways of providing care. Carers must exercised active listening and having the ability to empathise with the residents by paraphrasing what the others saying to her and understand it. So that, she will increased the trust and gain more information from the individuals. Communication itself is influenced by individuals values and culture. Carers should always make sure of eye contact; focus on what they are saying and acknowledged what is being said to her by paraphrasing or nodding her head. Carers must also use different technique to enhance their social culture, beliefs and values. Like for instances, I usually greets and chat with the individuals by smiling , Carers must apply the sense of touch in her communication. I believes that by means of touch can be a very positive form of communication in that it can provide comfort and re-assurance when someone is distressed making them feel safe and secure, it can also be a signed of love, respect and affection to somebody or it may calm someone who is agitated. In this case carers show that they met the desires of the human beings to their client which are love, purpose and self expression. Carers should be warm and caring in nature and she has the ability to connect well with others. Fine qualities and having a good communication skill plays important role in the delivery of care in whatever ethnicity, sex, education or social care they may be. Saving face is saving your credibility, dignity and ethics by means of being honest, getting out of the situation by means of good explanation. Theories of Organisational communication Attraction- selection attrition framework; In Attraction, everyone is different, people are differently attracted to a career for different reasons, this could be their passion, helping and/or looking after people could make them happy and fulfilled, even if they just want to try different job, and this is depending on their personality to choose the organization they want. In Selection, in organization the Manager chooses who she thinks will qualified for the job, with the same interest, goals, and personal reasons. Attrition, this is the complete opposite of attraction, where the people who didnt qualify, or found that they are not happy with the organization, management, job tend to leave, only those people who have the same ideas, interest, fits in the job chose to stay. A very good example is in the residential home I used to work, Id chose that residential home to apply because of a good reputation. The manager hired me because she thinks have got the qualification they are loo king for, and I can contribute to the organization. I and the other lady started working as a Induction carer, 3 days after the manager talked to me, and told me my colleagues are happy working with me and I can start working as a regular carer, working on my own. The sad part was, the new lady didnt appear two days after. http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Public%20Relations,%20Advertising,%20Marketing%20and%20Consumer%20Behavior/Attraction-Selection-Attrition_Framework(ASA).doc/ There are many types of organizational communication. Individuals communicate with peers, superiors, and subordinates within the organization. Managers manage through communication. Employee communication departments attempt to inform and/or secure cooperation; from employees. Labour relations specialists deal with labour unions. Formal and informal communication takes place between departments and role occupants throughout the organization. Public relations specialists communicate to external audiences about the organization in general,and advertising departments communicate to consumers about the organizations products and services. Change agents; and other organizational representatives communicate with clients and community representatives. Finally, organizations communicate with other organizations which generally share common problems or values. In groupthink or team work, a manager or team leader should be sensitive, open to accept suggestions from your subordinates in order t o meet the target goal. Working in groups are building blocks for meeting organization goals.   Managers should also consider ways to develop leadership in team members.   Training for versatility in leadership styles through workshops could encourage this growth.   Encouraging self-growth through concept of motivation. It is very important to have an effective communication at shift turnover; Care workers should give this a high priority. Shift turnover should be included in the safety-critical topics supervised and audited periodically by management. They should identify its importance in policy and procedures, assign responsibilities and set minimum standards. A description of how to conduct an effective handover should be available so individuals can assess and improve their own practice. High risk handovers needing extra attention should be flagged up. The importance of effective communication skills during shift handover and throughout other work activities suggests this attribute should be amongst the selection criteria for key posts. Furthermore, opportunities should be available for existing staff to develop their communication skills if required. To be able to motivate a care worker is to identify his strengths and weaknesses, and by giving him feedback. Being open to accept negative feedback is the key for being productive by improving, and being eager to learn, and update skills. Team work and good communication with one another will make each others work easy. Task 3 Interpersonal communication How the use of ICT in health and social care benefits service users? The Information Communication Technology aims to the efficiency of the health care services. This means to b a better outcome for the same or a lesser use of resources. ICT also helps and empowers the health and social care staff, it improves positive patients experiences and facilities research and development relevant to health and social care, the legal consideration in the use of ICT is the Health and Safety. How the ICT supports and enhances the activities of care workers and care organisations? As aforementioned, the ICT supports and enhances health and social care activities of care workers and care organisations. It is through administrative, financial, clinical, infrastructure applications, etc. That the needs of staff are met; and there is a high regard innovation in business administration, efficiency and quality of service. It also helps in meeting requirement of other agencies, accountability, and audit . For example, the use of a computer screen is an indication of a patients arrival makes the work of the receptionist lighter and easier. Imagine if there was no such thing then the receptionist will have to entertain every person coming in a queue. She will not have enough have time to do other things. Working with vulnerable adult, Professionals must shows different techniques and strategies used in supporting communication between the individual with specific communication needs. Good communication with people with vulnerable adult is essential. This includes identifying behaviour triggers, by means of visual prompts and speaking in short, clear sentences. I considered that the carers must use verbal and non-verbal forms of communications and applied the principles of active listening. Some people with disabilities are not able to use speech as their principle means of communication. They may however be able to use an alternative method of communication such as symbols and body language. It is vital to recognise that symbols are different from pictures. Pictures generally convey a lot of information at once but their focus is often unclear. Symbols, on the other hand, are often designed to convey a particular meaning. Symbols or body language can be applied to signify many aspect s of verbal communication. Symbols can be presented through visual, auditory and/or tactile media and can take the form of gestures, photos, manual signs, printed words, objects, reproduced spoken words or Braille. Symbols help understanding which can increase involvement, choice and confidence; it helps support creativity and self expressions. Theories of Interpersonal Communication Uncertainty reduction model People have an urge or need to reduce uncertainty about individuals that they find attractive and this motivates them to communicate In Social network theory closeness develops if people proceed in gradual and orderly fashion from superficial to more intimate levels of exchange. People consciously and deliberately weigh the costs and rewards associated with a relationship and seek relationships that reward them and avoid those that are costly. People connect with others because they believe that rewards or positive outcomes will result. Expectancy value model People believe according to their expectations, and evaluation. The behaviours they perform in response to their beliefs and values are undertaken to achieve some end. However, although expectancy-value theory can be used to explain central concepts in uses and gratifications research, there are other factors that influence the process.  Attribution theory is significantly driven by motivational dri ves, looking at how the person constructs the meaning of an event based on the persons motives to find cause on persons surroundings. Personal development planning is the lifelong process of nurturing, shaping, and updating persons knowledge. It is about allowing individuals to improve and develop in line with the industry in which they engage or aspire to engage. It is about widening or broadening their knowledge and skills in order that they will continue to have a place in the flatter structures of todays organisations. The benefits of personal development planning are that it provides a schedule to work to motivate the individual and suggests a framework for monitoring and evaluating achievements. A good example is If you are currently working as a first line manager or senior administrator and aspire to the position of your manager, you may need to acquire new skills or develop your lower level skills to a higher level in, for example, budgeting, managing people, performance review, report writing and chairing meetings. You would need to planhow you are going to acquire these skills and over what time frame. Personal development planning can also be the basis for: Assessing where you want to be and how you can get there ,keeping skills up-to-date through meetings, trainings, reading the record book of the residents, updating it via computer, particularly in IT and technical areas, Continuous learning, gaining satisfaction from achievements through feedback from colleagues and management whether it is formal or informal, Building up transferable skills, such as time management, adaptability to change, self-awareness, and supporting future employability. You have to set yourself a SMART objective; they must be attainable, viable and realistic time-frame. A good example of SMART objective is; Within the next 12 months (time-bound), I will devise and implement a system (specific) which will enable the team to communicate more effectively with each other (achievable and realistic) through monthly group meetings and three-monthly one-to-one meetings (measurable).

Monday, August 19, 2019

Cuban Race Relations Essay -- Spanish Cuba Cuban Racial Essays

Cuban Race Relations I. Introduction- Retracing a History of Racial Scorn in Cuban Society: The study of race relations in contemporary Cuba indelibly requires an understanding of the dynamic history of race relations in this ethnically pervasive island of the Caribbean. Cuban society, due to its historical antecedents of European colonialism and American imperialism, has traditionally experienced anguished and even tumultuous race relations. Racial disharmony has plagued Cuban society ever since the advent of the Colonial institution of the plantation system. Thus, in order to acquire some understanding of Cuba’s dynamic race relations one must study and investigate the evolution of racial tensions and the quintessential impact that the revolution of 1959 had on Cuba’s social structure. II. The Impact of Spanish Colonialism in Cuba: Legitimizing Racial Schism- The specter of colonial repression, imposed by the institutions of slavery and the plantation system, has incessantly haunted Cuban society, culture, politics, and ideology. The legacies of slavery and the plantation system imposed a structural and systematic practice of racial discrimination against Afro-Cubans, which suppressed any ambition for the pursuit of liberty and equality. Despite Cuba’s abolition of slavery in 1886 and its winning of independence in 1902, Afro-Cubans remained destitute, marginalized, and in the periphery of political autonomy within Cuban society. Thus, the origins of Cuba’s disdainful race relations emerge during the Spanish colonial tenure in Cuba. The era of Spanish colonial rule in Cuba can be characterized by many institutions, such as slavery and the plantation system, which presupposed a notion of ra... ...n and Mesa-Lago, Carmelo. Revolutionary Change in Cuba. Ed. Carmelo Mesa-Lago. (University of Pittsburgh Press: New York.1971), 347. 11. .de la Fuente, Alejandro. "Race, National Discourse, and Politics in Cuba." (Latin American Perspectives v25 (1998) : p. 43-70.), 55. 12. .Amaro, Nelson and Mesa-Lago, Carmelo. Revolutionary Change in Cuba. Ed. Carmelo Mesa-Lago. (University of Pittsburgh Press: New York.1971), 348. 13. .de la Fuente, Alejandro. "Race, National Discourse, and Politics in Cuba." (Latin American Perspectives v25 (1998) : p. 43-70.), 55. 14. .Ibid 15. .Ibid 16. .Ibid 17. .Knight, Franklin. The Caribbean: the Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism. (Oxford University Press: New York. 1990), 307. 18. .Information taken from the "Afro Cuba Web Page:" http://www.afrocubaweb.com/afrocVoice.htm Cuban Race Relations Essay -- Spanish Cuba Cuban Racial Essays Cuban Race Relations I. Introduction- Retracing a History of Racial Scorn in Cuban Society: The study of race relations in contemporary Cuba indelibly requires an understanding of the dynamic history of race relations in this ethnically pervasive island of the Caribbean. Cuban society, due to its historical antecedents of European colonialism and American imperialism, has traditionally experienced anguished and even tumultuous race relations. Racial disharmony has plagued Cuban society ever since the advent of the Colonial institution of the plantation system. Thus, in order to acquire some understanding of Cuba’s dynamic race relations one must study and investigate the evolution of racial tensions and the quintessential impact that the revolution of 1959 had on Cuba’s social structure. II. The Impact of Spanish Colonialism in Cuba: Legitimizing Racial Schism- The specter of colonial repression, imposed by the institutions of slavery and the plantation system, has incessantly haunted Cuban society, culture, politics, and ideology. The legacies of slavery and the plantation system imposed a structural and systematic practice of racial discrimination against Afro-Cubans, which suppressed any ambition for the pursuit of liberty and equality. Despite Cuba’s abolition of slavery in 1886 and its winning of independence in 1902, Afro-Cubans remained destitute, marginalized, and in the periphery of political autonomy within Cuban society. Thus, the origins of Cuba’s disdainful race relations emerge during the Spanish colonial tenure in Cuba. The era of Spanish colonial rule in Cuba can be characterized by many institutions, such as slavery and the plantation system, which presupposed a notion of ra... ...n and Mesa-Lago, Carmelo. Revolutionary Change in Cuba. Ed. Carmelo Mesa-Lago. (University of Pittsburgh Press: New York.1971), 347. 11. .de la Fuente, Alejandro. "Race, National Discourse, and Politics in Cuba." (Latin American Perspectives v25 (1998) : p. 43-70.), 55. 12. .Amaro, Nelson and Mesa-Lago, Carmelo. Revolutionary Change in Cuba. Ed. Carmelo Mesa-Lago. (University of Pittsburgh Press: New York.1971), 348. 13. .de la Fuente, Alejandro. "Race, National Discourse, and Politics in Cuba." (Latin American Perspectives v25 (1998) : p. 43-70.), 55. 14. .Ibid 15. .Ibid 16. .Ibid 17. .Knight, Franklin. The Caribbean: the Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism. (Oxford University Press: New York. 1990), 307. 18. .Information taken from the "Afro Cuba Web Page:" http://www.afrocubaweb.com/afrocVoice.htm